A Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar, a contestant from Shrikaranpur in Rajasthan’s Sriganganagar district, today passed away after a short illness at AIIMS in Delhi. He was 75. Kooner took his last breath at 6:25 am today.
Due to the candidate’s death, now the assembly polls will be held in 199 out of 200 assembly constituencies in Rajasthan on November 25. Election on this seat would be rescheduled later. He was MLA from this constituency in 1998 and 2018.
Earlier on Tuesday, the false news of his demise spread on social media. However, his son Ruby Koonar released a statement, saying the news of the Congress MLA’s death is not true but said his condition is critical. He was on life-support system and breathed his last today morning.
Born in Padampur tehsil of Rajasthan’s Sriganganagar, Koonar was one of the party’s senior most leaders in the district unit.
In 2018, Koonar defeated his closest rival Prithvipal Singh Sandhu in a triangular contest. BJP’s Surendrapal Singh came third. Sandhu had contested the polls independently. This time also, all three of them were in the fray and Sandhu was Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate.
However, following his death, elections on Shrikaranpur seat will be postponed for a later date.